Recent leatherwork - knife, sheath, belt and saddle

[Hibrion]

Hi all,

Here are a couple of commissions I had in relatively recently that I thought I'd share.

First up is a knife, sheath and belt set for a professional deer stalker. He wanted a good stainless steel knife with a flat grind and a celtic knot work theme belt and sheath, with a removable dangler. We went with an enzo trapper in elmax, which I handled in stabilised Irish wych elm burl. I can't say enough good things about enzo and this elmax trapper. I'm more of a carbon steel guy, but I'd happily carry one of these as a do all blade.
I decided to carve some intertwined deer on the belt, befitting his profession, and a hound chasing a deer on the sheath. All hand carved and stitched as usual, with brass hardware.

The nice outdoor photos were supplied by the customer, who took the set out to test immediately after collecting it. They were taken in the Wicklow mountains after two hours of crawling through heather and gralloching a dear.









Next up is a saddle I was asked to re-profile and cover for a custom chopper. Not usually something I'd share here, but the customer wanted an ivy design carved on it, based on some ivy I did on a belt a few years back. Seemed a bit bushcrafty.
It was a real shame to dye this black, so I included a work in progress picture before dying.









Thanks for looking

 

[Baelfore]

Lovely work Hibrion.

I swee what you mean about the ivy! it looks incredible before being dyed black. a nice antique finish would have been lovely.
still, customer is always right and all that jazz.

out of curiosity, this wasn't made for a chap in Arklow by any chance?

atb
Ste

 

[Hibrion]

Thanks, Ste. The saddle or the knife and belt?

Customer is indeed always right. The design is still prominent in person and the bike it's going on is black, so that's what they wanted. It generally tends to be black with bikers even my own bike has black leather, although I'm thinking of changing that.

 

[Baelfore]

Sorry, I was refering to the knife and belt.

 

[Hibrion]

The gentleman in question isn't too far from Arklow, you're correct

 

[Klenchblaize]

Nice bit of kit and so good to see a set as in matching belt/sheath.

I still have the first belt, knife pouch and ammunition slides I commissioned from the now long-gone P Western Leather.

K

 

[Macaroon]

Quality craftsmanship, as usual; the knife and sheath are particularly cool and suit each other perfectly

 

[Hibrion]

Thanks, Klenchblaize It is certainly worth investing in gear made to last.

This set was a pleasure to make as the customer new what they wanted and why, but gave me free reign with the design elements, which allowed me customise the product to his needs as much as possible. For example, the spine of the handle was left more squared than I would for a pure bushcraft knife, due to how he likes to choke up the blade when gralloching. It will help minimise slippage and turning in the hand when he cannot see the knife, inside the animal.
The removable dangler was added as he sometimes carries a large pack frame with a hip belt for carrying out culled animals.



Thank you for the kind words, Macroon

 

[forginhill]

Stunning! I've never seen a chopper saddle before, and I like it! Your sheath doesn't complement the knife, though....the knife complements the sheath. Wow!

 

[Angst]

very very nice work brother! lovely, all of it.

s

 

[Dreadhead]

stunning work on that belt/sheath set mate

 

[Hibrion]

Thank you forginhill, Angst and Dreadhead

 

[Ferret75]

Hi mate, nice to see the Enzo finished with those beautiful elm scales you mentioned and an amazing sheath to match. Great work my friend.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Hibrion]

Thanks, ferret75. The camera doesn't pick up on the detail in the burl well, so they look a bit nicer in person

 

[Muddypaws]

Great work! I'm not the most qualified person to comment on leatherwork, as I know nothing about it, but I do know that those look stunning.

 

[dazcon]

Nice! Very, Very nice!!

 

[Hibrion]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the kind words and the time taken to type them